Like most Niger–Congo languages, the ancestor of Gur languages probably had a noun class system; many of today's languages have reduced this to a system of nominal genders or declensions or no longer have a class system.[2] A common property of Gur languages is the verbal aspect marking. Many Gur languages are tonal. The tonal systems of Gur languages are rather divergent. Most Gur languages have been described as following the model of a two tone downstep system.

Koelle first mentions twelve Gur languages in his 1854 Polyglotta Africana, which represent ten languages in modern classification. Notably, he correctly identified these languages as being related to one another; his 'North-Eastern High Sudan' corresponds to Gur in modern classification.

The Gur family was previously called Voltaic following the French name (langues) Voltaïques (named after the Volta river). It was once considered to be more extensive than it is often regarded today, including the Senufo languages and a number of small language isolates. The membership of Senufo was rejected for example by Tony Naden.[3] Williamson and Blench[4] place Senufo as a separate branch of Atlantic–Congo and other non-Central Gur languages somewhat closer as separate branches of the Savanna languages. The closest relatives of Gur appear to be several branches of the obsolete Adamawa family.